Dials
Dials are often used as score-keeping devices or health trackers, or used as a sort of decoder ring. There are two types of dials offered:
While similar in use, they do have different things you need to be aware of when designing your images and wheel for each type. Let's cover designing your files for each dial.
Designing Small Dials
When designing a small dial, you will be starting with a template that looks like this:
The small dial has 6 main components you should be aware of:
Back:
This is the back of your dial. It has no view box.
Face:
This is the face of your dial. It has a view box, and is the main visible part of your dial. You may want to put your main graphics here.
Inner Dial:
This is the wheel on the inside of your dial that will be spun by users. The template shows 10 slots, making it function well for 0-9 counters.
Rivet:
This is where the rivet goes, to hold the dial together.
View Box:
This is a hole cut into the face of your dial. It allows the content of the inner dial to be visible through the face.
View Box Contents:
This is where you will add the content you want to be visible through the view box. This could be numbers, letters, words or icons.
Here is an example of a finished dial both with and without the template (flipped 90 degrees for easy viewing):
Designing Dual Dials
When designing a dual dial, you will be starting with a template that looks like this:
The dual dial has 8 main components you should be aware of:
Back:
This is the back of your dial. It has no view box.
Face:
This is the face of your dial. It has a 2 view boxes, and is the main visible part of your dial. You may want to put your main graphics here.
Right and Left Inner Dial:
These are the wheels on the inside of your dial that will be spun by users. The template shows 10 slots in the center and 10 more on the edge, making it function well for 0-9 counters.
Rivet:
These are where the rivet goes, to hold the dial together.
Right and Left View Box:
These are holes cut into the face of your dial. They allow the content of the inner dials to be visible on the face of the dial.
Right and Left View Box Contents:
This is where you will add the content you want to be visible through the view box. This could be numbers, letters, words or icons.
Right and Left Wheel Gap:
This is where the user will spin the dial, and this is also where the inner dial's edge content will be visible.
Right and Left Wheel Gap Contents:
This is where you can add additional information. This can be used as an extra area to add the the same number as what is visible in the view boxes, or you can add different content here if making a decoder, or some other type of dial. This is optional.
Here is an example of a finished dial both with and without the template (flipped 90 degrees for easy viewing):
